...'til pitchers and catchers will be reporting to their camps in Florida and Arizona. There are a multitude of free agent P's and C's out there, some with more value than other. Spring is in the air and it can't come soon enough. Another snow storm is getting ready to batter the Northeast and it doesn't really matter because baseball's coming, and fast!
What we can promise is a more in depth analysis of the additions/subtractions on a team by team level, starting with the AL West and working our way back East - no East Coast Bias here! More importantly, with P's and C's around the corner, do not fall for the nonsense that there are some gems to be had on the free agent front when it comes to these positions.
Make an all-star rotation that includes Smoltz and Pedro? Ha! This is not 2003 and expecting big things from pitchers that showed flashes of their former selves on brief occasions in 2009 is folly. Granted, Pedro's 7 inning gem against the Dodgers was a tough luck start but for every 7 inning gem he needs 7 days of rest. Hardly a reliable SP in this day and age. Finding the right fit where he can either be a swingman that does spot-starting and/or long-relieving may add life to his career but it has to be for the right price.
Smoltz had a few good games with the Cards and may be a good addition in the NL, ideally the West in my opinion since the bats are extremely limited out there. The East may also work considering many of the parks are massive and favor pitchers but I do not see him in the ATL again and the Fish don't seem to be a fit either. Nats? Maybe...
Of the rest, who's worth anything? Bedard? See my post from 2+ years ago when the O's traded him to the (sub)Mariners. Wang? Injury history that dates back to 2001. Noah Lowry? Sure he throws with his left hand but he's hardly even done that in the last 4 years. Ditto for Mike Hampton, Odalis Perez, Mark Mulder, and Eric Milton. Jason Schmidt? He was bitten by my fantasy baseball jinx (I'll go in depth on that after the 2010 analysis). Livan? 35? If you even think yes to either of those you should take a drug test. Tomko? Prior? Ponson? Of those three, Prior intrigues because he once threw really hard. I bet he regrets not being drafted by the Yankees and taking the big bucks early on. At least he'd have made the money Joba figures to make before blowing out his arm. Ponson is actually probably the most affordable and biggest bang for the buck option on the list - there's an ideal fit for the NL West.
But what about the C's you ask? If Michael Barrett or Yorvit Torrealba do anything for you, they can be had at a cheaper price than ever before. If a backup is what you need, Jose Molina is ripe for the taking. The no O, all D catcher would be a great fit for any team. Too bad his time was up in the Bronx.
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